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Seventh Session of the Open-ended
Informal Consultative Process
on Oceans and the Law of the Sea
UN Headquarters, New York | 12-16 June 2006
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UNICPOLOS-7 Dresses Down, Works Late, and Succeeds
The Seventh Session of the UN Open-ended Informal Consultative Process
on Oceans and the Law of the Sea convened its final plenary at 12:30 pm
on Friday, after revised draft text from the Friends of the Co-Chairs
group was copied and distributed to delegates. Several paragraphs of
draft text passed easily before lunchtime, but several more were
extensively bracketed and resulted in considerable debate throughout
the afternoon and into the night. Plenary reconvened from 3:30 pm to
6:20 pm, 7:00 pm to 10:15 pm, and 11:15 pm until 12:14 am. During
breaks, small groups worked to arrive at compromise text. In the end,
compromises and consensus were reached on elements which will be
forwarded to the UN General Assembly this fall, and the Consultative
Process successfully completed its planned work.
Above: Co-Chairs Cristián Maquieira, Chile, and Lori Ridgeway,
Canada, reviewed draft text with Friends of the Co-Chairs group Chair
Renée Sauvé, Canada, at the start of plenary.
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Friday, 16 June
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Plenary
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Conference officers rushed to distribute the revised draft text, "hot off the
photocopiers."
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Alistair Graham and Simon Cripps, WWF, marked up their copy of the draft text.
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Members of the Thai and Indonesian delegations conferred over the revised
draft text.
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Speaking for the EU, Thomas Loidl, Austria, suggested minor editorial
amendments to the preamble of the draft text, which were accepted.
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On managing marine ecosystems in conformity with international law,
Lucas González Millán, Venezuela, proposed deleting
reference to the rights and duties of States as provided for in UNCLOS.
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Resfel Pino, Cuba, suggested deleting brackets around language recognizing
that the ecosystem approach is interpreted differently in different contexts.
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On the strengthening of RFMOs, Joan Yang, Palau, suggested using language
agreed during the Fish Stocks Review conference.
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On strengthened and improved coordination and cooperation, Gunnar
Pálsson, Iceland, suggested clarifying that the reference to
international law does not apply to cooperation at the national level.
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On the development of representative networks of MPAs, Renée
Sauvé, Canada, noted the draft language is inconsistent with
the that of the JPOI, and a contact group was formed to agree on language.
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Dean Bialek, Australia, proposed compromise text on improved cooperation
and collaboration among international organizations.
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Porfirio Álvarez-Torres, Mexico, opposed a reference to paragraph
40 of CBD COP 8.
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Felicity Buchanan, New Zealand, proposed new language to overcome
concerns with the concept of "root causes" of impacts on ecosystems.
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At left: Co-Chair Lori Ridgeway, Canada, led participants through the long
and difficult consensus process on the last several bracketetd subparagraphs.
At right: Co-Chair Cristián Maquieira, Chile, declined to make long
closing remarks, instead simply wishing participants safe travels and a
good weekend before closing the meeting at 12:14 am, Saturday, 17 June 2006.
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Side Event: UNEP Ecosystem Report Launches
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UNEP invited delegates to a lunchtime side event for the launch of two
new reports: "Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas"
by UNEP and IUCN - the World Conservation Union, and "Marine and Coastal
Ecosystems and Human Well-Being," a synthesis report based on the findings
of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
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Around the Consultative Process
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With delegations encouraged by the Co-Chairs to be more flexible both
in attitude and dress, representatives of Greenpeace opted for matching
attire.
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Your UNICPOLOS-7 Earth Negotiations Bulletin team:
Robynne Boyd, writer, South Africa/US; Andrew Brooke, writer, Australia;
Alice Bisiaux, team leader, France; James Van Alstine, writer, US; Dan Birchall, digital editor, US.
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